Revelation 4 interpretation

Rev 4.4 After this I looked, and there before me was a door standing open in heaven. And the voice I had first heard speaking to me like a trumpet said, “Come up here, and I will show you what must take place after this.” 2 At once I was in the Spirit, and there before me was a throne in heaven with someone sitting on it. 3 And the one who sat there had the appearance of jasper and ruby. A rainbow that shone like an emerald encircled the throne. 4 Surrounding the throne were twenty-four other thrones, and seated on them were twenty-four elders. They were dressed in white and had crowns of gold on their heads. 5 From the throne came flashes of lightning, rumblings and peals of thunder. In front of the throne, seven lamps were blazing. These are the seven spirits of God. 6 Also in front of the throne there was what looked like a sea of glass, clear as crystal.

In the center, around the throne, were four living creatures, and they were covered with eyes, in front and in back. 7 The first living creature was like a lion, the second was like an ox, the third had a face like a man, the fourth was like a flying eagle. 8 Each of the four living creatures had six wings and was covered with eyes all around, even under its wings. Day and night they never stop saying:

“‘Holy, holy, holy
is the Lord God Almighty,’
who was, and is, and is to come.”

9 Whenever the living creatures give glory, honor and thanks to him who sits on the throne and who lives for ever and ever, 10 the twenty-four elders fall down before him who sits on the throne and worship him who lives for ever and ever. They lay their crowns before the throne and say:

11 “You are worthy, our Lord and God,
to receive glory and honor and power,
for you created all things,
and by your will they were created
and have their being.”

In 1 Chron 24, David set up 24 head priests, descended from Aaron. This was just the random number that developed from the number of families descended from Aaron at that time. It may have been God's way of expressing a double witness to the significance of Israel's 12 tribes. Everything was confirmed, as legitimate testimony under the Law, when there was a minimum of 2 witnesses. Aaron had two surviving sons, from whom these 24 leading priests were taken.

So the 24 elders appear to serve as representatives of the priestly order of Christ, whose atonement opened the gate for our entry into Heaven. They were dressed in white to show that Christians, who have access to Heaven, are made pure in the blood of Christ. And they had gold crowns, indicating that Christians have the authority of Christ, their head, to judge the world.

The lightning and thunder indicate that the purification of the Church leads to judgment of this world. The 7 blazing lamps are representative of the 7 churches in John's time, among which the faithful live by the Spirit of God. This brings conviction and judgment to the world around them.

I would suggest that these agents, ie the 24 elders and the 7 spirits, are angels, who represent what Christ has done for and in the Church. And the same follows for the 4 living creatures. They are angels representing something with respect to Christians, whom Christ has redeemed by his sacrifice.

These 4 creatures have the face of a man, which hearkens back to the Creation, when God gave Man rulership over the earth and over its creatures. These particular creatures serve the purpose of Man, after his redemption, to bring judgment upon the earth.

This judgment has been ongoing, from the time of the Fall, and even after the redeeming work of Christ. And it will be consummated at the Return of Christ, when the world will be judged in the Battle of Armageddon, and in Eternity through Christ's final sentencing.

The 4 creatures include both a lion and a flying eagle, both signifying God's predatory judgments against sinners, whether nations or their rulers. The "flying" eagle signifies that the judgment is already in process.

The 4 creatures also include an ox, representative of the plowing up of hardened land. The hardened land indicates nations, including Israel, who have resisted the Gospel of Christ, and must be plowed up in order to fulfill God's purposes on earth.

All of these things, before God's throne, indicates what transpires from the time of Christ's death to the consummation of His purposes at the Return of Christ. Judgment is ongoing, but delayed, until final judgment falls at the Return of Christ.

Douggg said:

Randy, the 24 elders were wearing crowns of gold - Revelation 4:4.

So I don't think they are angels, but significant figures in the bible who loved and worshiped God. We are not told each one's specific personal identity.

In Revelation 5:10, the 24 elders said...

10 And hast made us unto our God kings and priests: and we shall reign on the earth.

So, I don't think the 24 elders are angels.

Click to expand...

The symbolism carried by the 24 elders may symbolize something that they're doing on behalf of men, or they may be keys to identifying who they are. I happen to believe they are angels because I don't believe this heavenly scene conveys the presence of men, but rather, of angels in the millions, and probably many more.

In the OT we have the cherubim who are thought to be angels with special callings. And they also had appearances with symbolic inferences to men.

The cherubim in the garden of Eden were associated with a flaming sword that guarded the way to the Tree of Life. A sword infers a human weapon.

In Isa 6, seraphim had faces, feet, and carried a live coal in their hand. These anatomical features also infer something human.

In Eze 1, the cherubim had human faces and had feet that appeared like bronze. Again, the inference is human, though we know these were angelic creatures. The fact the cherubim in Rev 4 had crowns of gold infers something human, but is also likely angelic.

The centerpiece of the story of Revelation is the Lamb's sacrifice on behalf of men so that we may enter the Kingdom of heaven. So, these angels around the throne, including the cherubim, are carrying out acts on behalf of mankind, who were called from the beginning to rule on earth.

We are called to be lords, in a sense, over a chaotic earth, by remaining true to the judgment of God and true to the image of God for which we were created. Once man fell, it became the job of those redeemed by Christ to reflect God's truth and righteousness, through which He will judge the wicked earth.

Gen 1.26 Then God said, “Let us make mankind in our image, in our likeness, so that they may rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky, over the livestock and all the wild animals, and over all the creatures that move along the ground.”
27 So God created mankind in his own image,
in the image of God he created them;
male and female he created them.
28 God blessed them and said to them, “Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground.”